TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 23 -- TCM Spotlight: Drive-in Double Features

[Staph]

Today is a mixed bag of movies -- during the day TCM is showing some Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning films, including Gandhi (1982), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), and The Natural (1984). Tonight's double drive-in features are all about sea monsters. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940)
A neglected housewife turns herself into a glamour girl to win her husband back.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Lucille Ball, James Ellison, Robert Coote.
68 min, TV-PG, CC

For many years during their marriage, Lucy and Desi Arnaz hid the fact that she was six years older than him by splitting the difference in their ages. She (born in 1911) said she was born in 1914 and he (born in 1917) also said he was born in 1914.


7:15 AM -- Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933)
A tramp rescues the mayor's girlfriend from a suicide attempt.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Al Jolson, Madge Evans, Frank Morgan.
83 min, TV-PG

The role of June (eventually played by Madge Evans) was originally offered to Al Jolson's real-life wife, Ruby Keeler, but she decided she didn't want to make her film debut opposite her husband. It turned out better for her than for him -- her first film, "42nd Street," was a major hit while "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" was a major flop -- but the strain on Jolson as his wife became more popular than he was helped lead to the breakup of their marriage.


8:45 AM -- The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
A World War II 4-F saves the U.S. Navy when he's transformed into a dolphin.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Don Knotts, Carole Cook, Jack Weston.
C-99 min, TV-G, CC

This was the final animated film work released by Warner Brothers before the animation studio was shut down. Warners would continue to release theatrical shorts produced by Depatie-Freleng Enterprises until 1969.


10:30 AM -- Gandhi (1982)
The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.
Dir: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud.
C-191 min, TV-PG, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ben Kingsley, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing and Michael Seirton, Best Cinematography -- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Best Costume Design -- John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya, Best Director -- Richard Attenborough, Best Film Editing -- John Bloom, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Briley, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Makeup -- Tom Smith, Best Music, Original Score -- Ravi Shankar and George Fenton, and Best Sound -- Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye

Ben Kingsley looked so much like Mahatma Gandhi, many natives thought him to be Gandhi's ghost. Born Krishna Bhanji, Kingsley's paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mahatma Gandhi was from.


1:45 PM -- Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
The future president considers a political career while practicing law.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver.
100 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Lamar Trotti

Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Lincoln, saying he didn't think he could play such a great man. He changed his mind after John Ford asked him to do a screen test in full makeup. After viewing himself as Lincoln in the test footage, Fonda liked what he saw, and accepted the part. He later told an interviewer, "I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film."


3:30 PM -- To Sir, With Love (1967)
A substitute teacher changes the lives of the slum children in his class.
Dir: James Clavell
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson.
C-105 min, TV-PG, CC

The film did so unexpectedly well in America that Columbia Pictures did market research to find out why so many people had gone to it. Their answer: Sidney Poitier.


5:30 PM -- The Natural (1984)
An overaged baseball player comes out of nowhere to save his team.
Dir: Barry Levinson
Cast: Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger.
C-138 min, TV-14, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Glenn Close, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham and Bruce Weintraub, Best Cinematography -- Caleb Deschanel, and Best Music, Original Score -- Randy Newman

Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams's single goal while playing baseball was for people to say, "There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived" (a sentiment echoed by Roy Hobbs in the movie). Like Williams, Hobbs wears number 9 on his uniform, and both Williams and Hobbs hit home runs in their last career at-bats. According to Roger Angell of the New Yorker, Redford modeled his swing on Williams'. Angell adds that Redford plays so authentically "you want to sign him up".



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURES



8:00 PM -- It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)
A giant octopus attacks San Francisco.
Dir: Robert Gordon
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis.
79 min, TV-PG, CC

Because the budget was so low, Ray Harryhausen saved money by building his octopus model with six rather than the correct eight tentacles. He tried to pose the creature so this lack of the right number of arms wasn't apparent.


9:30 PM -- The Monster that Challenged the World (1957)
An earthquake unleashes a horde of giant prehistoric monsters.
Dir: Arnold Laven
Cast: Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton, Hans Conried.
85 min, TV-PG

In the laboratory, above the filing cabinets on the right was a aerial picture of the K-25 Plant, it was the largest building in the Manhattan Project and was authorized in late 1942, it was 11 miles from the WWII Secret City of Oak Ridge, Tenn. The plant was intended to produce enriched uranium. The photo on the left looks like it is a close up of K-25 but that has not been proven at this time.


11:00 PM -- The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Nuclear tests set a dormant prehistoric monster on a path of destruction.
Dir: Eugène Lourié
Cast: Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway.
80 min, TV-PG, CC

Some film aficionados might recognize Alvin Greenman, the first character to speak after the narrator, and the first to notice the beast on on the radar. Six years earlier he played Alfred, the Macys Janitor in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). TV aficionados though might recognize the second character to speak. Playing the part of Charlie is actor James Best, best remembered for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane from "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979).


12:30 AM -- The Giant Behemoth (1959)
A radioactive dinosaur plots a deadly path to London.
Dir: Eugene Lourie
Cast: Gene Evans, Andre Morell, John Turner.
80 min,

Originally called Behemoth The Sea Monster.


2:00 AM -- The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1955)
A mutated sea creature attacks people along the beach.
Dir: Earl Harper
Cast: Kent Taylor, Kathy Downs, Michael Whalen.
81 min, TV-PG

Not the best special effects -- in a close-up view of the creature, strings can be seen on top of its head holding up the fin. In the final scene where the monster is holding Prof. King, the hands of the man in the monster suit are visible around King's neck.


3:30 AM -- Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961)
A killer blames a legendary sea monster for his deeds and is surprised when the real beast shows up.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Edward Wain.
59 min, TV-PG

The scene of the Cuban military officers saluting as the little boat they are floating in sinks was not planned; it actually began sinking as they were completing the shot. Roger Corman told the actors to stand and salute as the boat sank and filmed every moment, later stating that it 'wasn't very deep' there. He also gave high praise for the Mexican actors that played the officers for taking direction so well.


5:00 AM -- Hidden Values: The Movies of the '50s (2001)
A look at some of the movies that defined the decade and what they said about Americans and American culture.
Cast: Peter Biskind, John Carpenter, Roger Corman.
C-47 min, TV-PG, CC